Talk:D'Anjou

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[edit] Origin of pear

I added that the pear originated "either in Belgium or in the vicinity of Angers in central France," with the citation "Production Practices and Quality Assessment of Food Crops, Volume III." It was removed with the comment "I see no source for the Belgium origin theory." I assume the person read the citation and found it unconvincing, but none of the sources give any real evidence for the origin, they merely say they were raised in France and Belgium in the 1800s, and are thought to have originated there. The name "d'Anjou" certainly suggests it originated in Anjou, but that was one of many names for the pear, and just happens to have stuck. It seems like it was most commonly called the "brown beurré" in English in the early 19th century, beurré meaning "buttered," but there are many varieties of beurré, and the brown buerré had many synonyms. According to the 1831 "A Guide to The Outdoor and Kitchen Garden" p. 367, brown beurrés were also called Beurre Of Duhamel, Beurre Gris, Beurre Rouge, Beurre Dore, Beurre d'Anjou, Beurre d'Or, Beurre d' Ambleuse, Beurre d'Amboise, Poire d'Amboise, and Isambert. According to the 1853 "The book of the garden", they were called "Beurré rouge, Brurré gris, Beurré dore, Beurré vort, Beurré du roi, Beurré d'Anjou, Beurré d'Ambleuse, Beurré d'Ambroise, Golden beurrê, Red beurré, Badhams, Isambert, Isambert le bon." While that book says the variety is from France, this 1879 book says it originated in Belgium. As the modern text I originally cited put it, some authors claim one origin, some claim another. None presents any scientific evidence, and I could see rewording it to better describe the confusion, but I'm going to reinsert Belgium as a possible place of origin. If it is removed, I think a good source should be cited that refutes that theory. -Agyle 19:58, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

My mistake. I found numerous online articles backing Anjou as the origin which (along with the name) is why I felt the likelihood that it actually originated in Belgium was slim. Upon rereading those articles, however, none of them even definitively state a time period of development, so as you mentioned (and the article now correctly reflects) I doubt the place of origin is indisputable either. -Big Smooth 20:10, 10 October 2007 (UTC)
Yes, I've seen Anjou listed more commonly, but that may just be because the name is so suggestive, even though it may be arbitrary. It seems a lot of different beurrés grew in that Belgium/France region in that era. I should note that the early description of the brown beurré, namely being brown, doesn't fit with either main current U.S. Anjou pear (red or green). The same name may have referred to two different varieties early on, or the red and green may have derived from the brown. If the latter, that would probably be recorded, as the U.S. pomological congress was pretty organized by the 1850s. (They had great pear debates - "I have stricken it from my fields!!") -Agyle 20:37, 10 October 2007 (UTC)